Horseback Cinderella
by toffeelola
Summary: Rachel was a natural, at horse riding, that is. But she also has to manage the ranch by herself for her stepmother. When a world famous horse rider comes to stay at her ranch will she find love and freedom? Please Read and Review (rated T just to be safe)
1. Chapter 1

Rachel glanced at her clock.

5.00 am-time to do chores.

It was the same every morning, wake up and do the chores before going to school. She walked down the stairs and into the stables before feeding all the horses, that's right, she lived in a barn. Her stepmother took hold of her father's ranch when he passed away in a horse riding accident, she turned into a hospitality business.

Rachel loved riding but Carol would never allow her to compete. She usually took care of all the ranch animals and doing room service for the guests. She had to stay because she had nowhere else to go and it was the only way that Carol would let her ride, if she did all her chores during the week she was allowed to ride during the weekend.

Her phone vibrated and saw a text from Jenna '_Bring me some breakfast! I'm starving!' _ Rachel just rolled her eyes, she didn't like either of her stepsisters but she had to tolerate them until she was eighteen at least and that was another two years away.

She went and catered to her stepmother and stepsisters before leaving for school. The trip there was fairly average, she walked down the road to her friend's house and got a ride from her.

"Hey Rachel", Laurel said, with a smile to show off her pristine white teeth.

"Hey Laurel, what have you been up to lately?" Rachel asked curiously getting into the old car.

"Just working on a few of my tricks", She explained as she started up the engine, "Karmah has been really good lately."

Laurel was a trick rider with her horse Karmah, she was pretty good too, Rachel didn't really specialise in any form of riding, she did a bit of western and English but she mostly just enjoyed spending time with horses.

"So I guess you heard that Jason Sanders is staying at our ranch", Rachel stated flatly.

"Who hasn't? only like one of the best horse riders in the country! And plus he's hot! I was surprised though when he came to visit a small town like this?" Laurel pondered.

"Well, because my mum is paying him huge money to give some instructing to my two stepsisters and plus he said he wanted to find his roots again, apparently he's going to go compete at the local fair against other riders", Rachel explained as she gazed out the window.

"You should compete! This would be your chance to show others how good you are and maybe compete on a professional circuit", Laurel Proposed as they approached the school grounds.

"Okay, let me give you an extended list of why I can't, 1-don't have the time, 2-don't have the money, 3-Carol won't let me, 4-I'm not really that good, 5- I have to focus on my studies and saving money so I can go to a riding college when I graduate, besides where am I going to get a horse from?" Rachel rambled as the entered the grounds and sighed, another day in this place only meant one less day to go until she graduated. She absolutely hated school.

"…In a barn full of them", Laurel spoke but those were the only words that were caught by Rachel's ears.

"Huh?" Rachel said after losing her train of thought.

"You can just use of the horses from the ranch, I mean you ride them all the time don't you?" Laurel explained to Rachel.

"I don't really care anyway", Rachel admitted defeat, she did care but it was just too much effort for such a small thing, she could always go next year anyway if she really wanted.

"I didn't think the school allowed scum on this property and yet you still show up every day", Bianca said, Rachel didn't understand her, she was always so mean and yet Rachel never did anything wrong.

Bianca was an enemy of hers, she kept her horse on her father's ranch and was competing at a state level for show jumping, she was good but was the most horrible person that both Rachel and Laurel had ever met.

"So I heard Jason was staying at your ranch, but after he sees you he'll be out of there in a heartbeat", Bianca said with a smirk before going off to her locker.

Rachel didn't think she was that ugly, she was curvy, not fat but not a stick insect either. She had brown hair with natural ringlets, her eyes were a vibrant green colour and she had full lips with a delicate smile.

"Look, don't listen to her, she doesn't know what she's talking about, your beautiful honey", Laurel tried to comfort her.

"Doesn't matter anyway, people don't look long enough to see past the skin so I guess then beauty is only skin deep, anyway, I have to go to English, see you later", Rachel said with a fake smile before taking off to class, she was beyond care anymore.

Throughout the day Rachel was planning a list for that day, it was a habit of hers. Every day she would mentally plan out what she had to do before she went to bed that night.

-Do homework

-Clean out stables

-Brush horses

-Put rugs on the older horses (It's not fun to go through a snowy winter without a coat, especially for the elderly)

-Clean the other guest apartments

-Mop the floors and clean the windows for Carol's house

-shovel snow off the pathway

-Feed the animals

-Prepare dinner for Carol and her daughters

-Go and greet the new guests and prepare dinner for them.

-Clean dishes

-Go to bed

It disheartened her to think that all this was to be done by 10:00 that night if she was going to get any decent sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

When Rachel arrived home she started to work on her list when a vehicle pulled up the driveway, she figured it was Carol but went to look anyway. It was Jason. He was here earlier than she anticipated, she hadn't finished her chores yet and she hadn't even shovelled a pathway to the guest apartments yet.

"Hi, you came a lot earlier than I anticipated, the stall is almost ready though if you want to bring your horse and tether him it shouldn't be too much longer", Rachel said trying not to sound too stressed.

"Yeah, we caught a tailwind on the plane, I'm Jason by the way and do you know if Carol is here?" Jason asked, his nicely trimmed dark brown, almost black hair suited his defined face and Rachel had to wake herself from her daydream to respond.

"Um, no sorry, she's out getting a manicure, if you want you can wait in the house while I get your accommodation ready", Rachel answered as she jogged back into the barn with her black sneakers, loose jeans and red t-shirt.

She went in and quickly cleaned up the guest apartment and made the beds before shovelling a pathway to the apartment so nobody would slip, she also managed to finish getting the stall ready for Jet, Jason's horse all within the hour.

"Jason, your apartments ready now, sorry about the wait", Rachel said as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"No worries, is it just you running this place?" He asked curiously.

"Oh no, my stepmother Carol owns it, I just look after the horses", Rachel said shyly.

"So it's just you?" He asked.

"Well, occasionally my stepsisters help out a bit but mostly yeah, it's just me", She replied as she sat down at the table.

"That's a tough job for one person, do you go to school?" He asked, she didn't like where these questions were going.

"Yeah, anyway, enough about me, you should go get some rest, it's getting late, do you want any dinner?" Rachel asked as she went to the kitchen.

"No thanks, I'm not really that hungry, I think I'll just go get some sleep", He said as he walked off to his apartment.

Rachel walked into the barn and started cleaning the equipment; she went over to go see Jet. He was a beautiful large bay warm blood with a noble head. His big eyes looked at her and she quickly gave him a pat before looking at his schedule and needs, from what she saw he was a pretty easy horse to look after.

About half an hour later Carol arrived home with her two daughters, she could tell they were all admiring their manicure and laughed because she knew it would be undone within an hour of riding. Jenna made her way to the barn and came in, she gave a disgusted look towards Rachel before moving to go see Jet.

"So this is Jason's horse, not too bad", she said with a smug look, "I can't wait until he gives me and Rose some riding tips."

"It's a good thing too because you need it", Rachel remarked.

"Are you saying I'm a bad rider? Stable girl, that's all you are and all you will ever be that's why people like you don't get to be seen with people like me or Jason", She said with glares of disgust, "You'd think by now you would know your place."

Rachel had already left the room to go make some dinner for Carol, Rose and Jenna. She only wished she could prove to everyone that she was more than the stable girl, she loved being around horses but she knew she would amount to more than that.

Rachel didn't get to bed until eleven at night and didn't look forward to tomorrow morning. She pulled about three blankets over her, not having a heater in winter was a real bummer but she survived anyway.

She didn't sleep very well that night, it was cold in the barn loft and she kept having dreams about her dad and the accident, she still remembers ever moment and every word.

"_Can I watch you ride?" The young girl asked her father with a beaming smile._

"_Of course", He responded to his daughter as he led the horse into the ring._

_The sun had been shining only moments ago but the rain came very suddenly causing the dirt in the arena to transform into mud. Carol came out to watch at some point to and clapped as he cleared each of the large obstacles, he was a brilliant rider and was admired by both Carol and Rachel._

_Sampson, his horse, glided over the jumps easily so they were raised a few centimetres and skies became clear again. The large chestnut horse had nearly cleared the round, his hind leg knocked the bar and was unable to land successfully tripping and falling in the mud. Rachel's father had lost his balanced going over the jump and fell off before landing under the horse and the jump._

"_Go get help!" Carol yelled at Rachel who ran to her neighbours because she knew her stepsisters wouldn't provide any help._

_He was dead before she came back, she didn't know if he was dead before that or not, she can almost remember every tear that slid down her face._

Rachel woke up again and looked at the time, it was almost five anyway so she didn't bother going back to sleep. She went down and went into Jebediah's stall, the gelding was one of the few horses that remained from when her dad owned the ranch. She tacked him up to ride English, she could do most disciplines but she felt like doing jumping this morning to get her blood flowing and the obstacles were already set up in the yard.

She mounted the horse and cantered him around the arena to warm him up before heading for the first jump, she cleared it with ease. The jumps were fairly high but Rachel knew what she was doing, she couldn't stay out for too long because she would get caught by Carol or one of her stepsisters and she wouldn't be allowed to ride for the rest of the week or month or something ridiculous like that.

Jason looked out his window, it was misty in the early morning but he woke when he heard a horse nicker gently from the arena which was close to his apartment. He saw a chestnut, or was it bay? Horse easily clearing the fences in the arena, fences that he used for jumping, it was designed to be an extremely hard course, he couldn't see who the rider was so went back to sleep and by the time he woke up they were gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Rachel arrived at school and Jason was the biggest buzz. Most of the students who attended the school rode horses and were eager to get a glimpse of Jason today, he was going to talk to some of the students that were riders and all those who did ride or wanted to create a career out of it were invited to come to a conference he was holding during school in which he would discuss career opportunities including his up and coming competition as well as give some training tips and advice and just talk about riding in general.

"Do you like my new hair, I'm hoping it'll catch Jason's eye", Rachel heard Bianca say.

"But if not maybe it'll catch a few spiders, not that you'd be able to see them anyway", Laurel said back with a smirk.

"Well, what do we have here, ugly and uglier", Bianca said piously.

"Better than being dumb and dumber", Rachel said quietly.

"You didn't just say that to me did you?" Bianca snapped with a piercing stare.

"What that you're intelligence is as fake as your boobs", Rachel snapped back, she was really getting sick of Bianca and within the blink of an eye Rachel felt the palm of Bianca's hand make impact with her left cheek, leaving a large red mark. Jason saw this just as he was walking in and was appalled by it, just another cat fight between two chicks who are arguing over who's more blonde than the other or who has the bigger boobs. He came to realise then, it didn't matter what school you went to the people were all the same.

"Jason", Bianca said with a sly grin when she saw them, "My name's Bianca, I ride as well, we should catch up at some point and maybe you could give me a few pointers."

Rachel rolled her eyes, Bianca would never change. She walked over to her locker with Laurel and opened it, she took out her text books and sighed, she felt like every single day was the same.

"Why can't I just have a normal joyful life like everyone else seems to have?" Rachel questioned.

"Because you're not like everyone else, besides when you're out of here you'll be jumping hurdles a lot bigger than high school and everyone will be looking up at you because you will do it with your head held high, cos your dreams are higher than the sky", Laurel said with a smile, Rachel smiled back at her.

"What would I do without you Laurel?" Rachel asked her.

"I have no idea", Laurel answered as she unwrapped a lollypop, "You going to the conference?"

"I could if I wanted to cos I've got a free period then but I really need to catch up on my schoolwork, the witch has been making me do heaps of extra work lately since Jason arrived", Rachel said as she came to a classroom door, "Anyway I guess I'll catch you later."

Rachel walked off into class and nearly fell asleep in all her classes for the remainder of the day. She went to the library during her free period and tried to get her head stuck in her work, the library was quiet as most of the students had gone to the conference. Her phone started buzzing and she took it out, it was Carol…of course.

"Jason told me that he saw you riding this morning, you thought you could get away with it because it was early, didn't you? Well, you know that you are only allowed to ride on weekends if you do all your chores, you broke our agreement. I can't believe you would do such a thing! You horrible child, you are grounded from any riding for a month", Carol yelled over the phone before hanging up, she wouldn't, even though she really wanted to, she wouldn't let herself cry.

Rachel needed to tell Jason it was her riding in the ring that day, tell him how frustrated she was but also to tell him not to tell Carol, she liked Jason, maybe not in a romantic way-at least not at this point-but she thought he was a nice person. She had to tell him without letting him know it was actually her, a stable hand.

She grabbed some paper and a pen and wrote out a letter to him, she didn't care if it sounded good or not she just wanted to let him know what he did but not who he did it to.

_Hi Jason,_

_You know that girl that you saw in the arena the other morning, that was me. If you want you can Just call me C. Anyway, if you see me in future please don't tell anyone as my mum found out from Carol and she grounded me from riding for a while because I am not supposed to ride during school days please don't tell anyone about this letter and if you see me ride again in the early mornings pretend like you didn't see me at all, I know the girl who works there, the stable hand if you want to write anything back just give it to her._

_Cheers_

_-C. _

Rachel had to practice riding for the show that was not too far away now that Jason would be competing in as well. She couldn't afford to stop riding for a month, she would still sneak out in the mornings but now she knew Jason wouldn't tell anyone. She chose the letter C because it was the middle letter of her name and he would never put the two together. She put the letter in the envelope and addressed it to Jason.

She went and completed all her chores for the night and went to sleep, she had the very next morning completely planned out.

As soon as she woke up she did her regular chores before going to Jason's room with his breakfast and the letter.

"Jason, I've brought you some breakfast and there was a letter for you that a friend told me to give you ", Rachel said after she knocked on his door.

"Oh bring it in, thanks", Jason replied to her as he opened the letter and read it, she left his room and went back to go get breakfast ready for her stepsisters and Carol.

"Guess what, Jason's giving us our first lesson today", Rose said with her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, a private lesson with just us and him", Jenna said, rubbing it in even further.

"Now Rachel, I don't want to hear about you riding okay? Also, I need you to turn on the sprinklers and clean the window's, they're disgustingly filthy, I'll be back later", Carol said as she walked out of the house, Rose and Jenna went up to their rooms to get ready for their lesson.

Rachel went and began to clean the windows when she was suddenly approached by Jason, he tapped her on the shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her skin before spinning around to see it was him.

"Hey, um, do you know the girl who sent that letter, she goes by C, she said she knows you", Jason said while he scratched the back of his head anxiously.

"Oh, yeah, C. Of course I know her", Rachel replied eagerly.

"Do you think you could give this to her?" Jason asked as he held out a letter.

"Yeah sure", Rachel answered before taking the letter, she put it in her back pocket and would read it later.


	4. Chapter 4

_Dear C._

_Sorry that you got grounded, if I had known earlier I wouldn't have said anything. For what it's worth you're a really good rider, those were fences that sometimes I can't get over and you made the whole course look like a piece of cake. Maybe we could catch up sometime, you sound like a nice person, would you mind if I came down in the mornings to watch you?_

_-Jason_

Rachel was terrified, she didn't want him to see her. She would tell him to avoid her at all costs, that's what she would do.

_Dear Jason_

_Unfortunately we will not be able to meet, I would rather you not know who I am if you can understand that, Please just respect my wishes and thank you for your compliments, you aren't such a bad rider yourself._

_C._

Rachel waited until the next day to give it to Jason. She missed riding so much but she couldn't do it in broad daylight.

Jason was on the phone to his friend, and explained to him about C. He was starting to become interested in this girl and wanted to know her, Luke wished him good luck knowing he was going to need it.

"You don't even know anything about her, maybe you should ask her to come to the competition, she rides after all doesn't she and there's a masquerade ball afterwards so she won't have to expose herself to you", Luke suggested while Jason sat at a desk contemplating what to do next before deciding he would go and see the stablehand and ask for her opinion.

"Hey, Rachel is it?" Jason queried as Rachel nodded her head, "Can you tell me anything about C?"

"Well, she's very quiet and she.." Rachel was cut off by Bianca coming into the room.

"Jason, so good to see you, just wondering if you want to come and catch a movie with me and some of my friends", Bianca said reasonably nicely to Rachel's surprise.

"Sounds good Bianca", Jason said with a smile, there goes Rachel's chance to talk to him, Bianca smirked at Rachel knowing full well what she had done.

"Oh and Rachel could you give this to C", Jason said as he handed Rachel the letter before exiting the barn with Bianca.

"Who's C", Rachel heard Bianca say before they exited.

Rachel ran up to the loft of the barn-her bedroom and rested on the bed before she read the letter.

_C_

_Hey, you know I wouldn't mind getting to know you better and continue writing to you, I'll ask you ten questions, you don't have to answer all or any of them._

_What is your full name?_

_What breed is your horse?_

_What is your favourite colour?_

_Do you have a job?_

_What do you want to do when you leave school?_

_Would you rather spend a day at the mall or go for a walk on the beach?_

_What interests you?_

_What do you do in your spare time?_

_Have I met you before and not known it?_

_Would you come to the competition and join me at the ball afterwards?_

Rachel started scribbling a response to the letter she had been given, she didn't even know what to write, she just felt so happy.

_Jason_

_I wouldn't mind getting to know you better either, I'll answer your ten questions (Well, not all of them)._

_Just call me C_

_Well, I don't really own any horses in particular I just ride any that are available_

_Purple-definitely purple_

_Yes_

_Become a professional rider_

_Go for a walk on the beach_

_Horses, You and I can't really think about anything else at the moment_

_What spare time?_

_possibly_

_I would like to but I can't._

_Hope this helps_

_C._

Rachel had only just realised what she had done, she had created a fake person-well partially fake-and Jason was beginning to like her.

The next few days nothing had changed, Rachel still continued writing to Jason as C and Bianca was still pushing her and Laurel around. Rachel told Laurel about her situation with Jason.

"Oh MY GOD! You are so going to the competition!" Laurel told her friend.

"But if my stepmother sees me she'll kill me!" Rachel explained to Laurel.

"You are only grounded for another two weeks, the competition is in three, I say you go", Laurel told her friend.

"But the ball afterwards, I have nothing to wear, and I don't want Jason to know who C really is-a stable girl who amounts to nothing", Rachel said shamefully.

"I have an awesome dress at home and a wig as well as a really pretty mask you can wear", Laurel told Rachel, "So are you going or not?"

"I'll have to ask Carol", Rachel said, "But maybe I can go."

"So who are you taking to the ball Jason", Rachel heard Bianca ask him as they walked past, she had her hand snaked around his waist and her other lightly resting on his chest, "Because you know, I haven't got anyone to go with yet."

"Well, I'm not sure yet but there is this one girl…"Jason said in a near dream-like state, Bianca shook his arm violently to bring him back to reality.

"Who is she?" Bianca asked, hoping it was her.

"I'm not really sure, I guess we'll find out", Jason said with a smile.

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Rachel mucked out the stalls and hummed a tune quietly to herself. Velvet had been crosstied in the hall, Laurel was grooming him over.

"So when is Memory's foal due?" Laurel asked as she gave Velvet a treat.

"In a few months, I'm really excited", Rachel answered, the older she became the more she felt like she ran the entire operation of this ranch, the horses were family to her, "By the way, did you hear that Carol has purchased a small herd of cattle, she wants to expand the ranch so that we specialise in more than just horses."

"That's really cool, so what, you'll be roping in the cows, what other animals are you getting?" Laurel asked as Rachel finished of Velvet's stall.

"Well, Carol wants me to set up a duck pond so we can get ducks", Rachel said placing Velvet back in his stall she kissed his nose and bolted the door, "Who's a good boy?"

"You talk to the horses like you expect something back", Rachel turned to see Jason there, she blushed only slightly and Laurel slipped away into the tack room to give them some time alone.

"Yeah well, he may not speak words but sometimes it's good to have someone just listen", Rachel said with a yawn, "Anyway, I best get to it, do you need something for Jet?"

"Yeah, do you think you would be able to tack him for me? I have to quickly go and do a few things", Jason said when Rachel remembered she had a letter.

"Oh wait, Jason, I have a letter from C here for you", Rachel told him as she handed him the letter and walked over to Jet's stall.

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	5. Chapter 5

Jason sat down on his bed in the guest apartments. Opening the letter that he had just received by C:

_I wouldn't mind getting to know you better either, I'll answer your ten questions _

_Just call me C_

_Well, I don't really own any horses in particular I just ride any that are available_

_Purple-definitely purple_

_Yes_

_Become a professional rider_

_Go for a walk on the beach_

_Horses, You and I can't really think about anything else at the moment_

_What spare time?_

_possibly_

_I would like to but I can't._

_Hope this helps_

_C._

Jason was somewhat disappointed that she didn't answer in further detail but glad to get some information. He began to wonder if the stable hand girl had been reading their letters. He shook his head, surely she wouldn't.

Did he know any girls at the school who had the name C? He hadn't seen many girls hang out with Rachel. Maybe their name didn't even start with C, it could have been Laurel for all he knew.

He wished he knew who she was, it killed him to know that she knew who he was but he didn't know who she was. The local show was coming up soon and he was hoping to see her there but how would he know which one was her?

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Rachel fed all the horses and felt like she was about to fall asleep, she got detention today and had to stay back for an hour after school. So now she was an hour behind schedule, she did most of her schoolwork in detention but she couldn't do anything that required a computer. She didn't even do anything wrong, Bianca was throwing balls of paper at her and put gum in her hair and then Rachel got in trouble for 'Disturbing the class'.

Jason had written another letter and walked up to Rachel. He felt bad for not helping her around the stable when he saw how tired she was. She looked like a zombie.

"Hey Rachel, I have another note for C here", He said and she yawned.

"Oh, um okay", She said through tired eyes, "Um, what do you want for dinner?"

"I'll fix something for myself", He said, "You should go rest."

"Yeah well if I could I would but this ranch isn't going to run itself, besides don't you have lessons that you have to teach those two before the sun goes down", She asked.

"What happened to your hair?" Jason asked, noting the pink gum tangled through it.

"Bianca happened", She replied as she tried to pull some more out.

"Jason! My daughters are waiting", Carol shouted out.

"Okay, be right there", He told her before turning back to Rachel, "So do you think you could give this to C?"

"Yeah, no problem", Rachel said as she took the envelope.

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Rachel walked up to the loft and opened the letter.

_Dear C._

_Well, I suppose you might want to know more about me now. Well, I grew up in a small town like this with my uncle. My brother was always the one in the limelight, being a famous country singer so I decided that I wanted to be famous too and I loved horse riding. Do you ride competitively? You should if you don't, I might finally have some competition. Are you going to the local fair to compete? Anyway, I was wondering, if you go to the ball afterwards, if you'd be my partner._

_-Jason._

Rachel was torn, she would love to go to the ball with Jason but she honestly didn't think she would be able to. She hid the letter underneath her pillow and rested on her bed for a moment before she had to go make queen bee and her daughters some dinner. She got up and looked out the window to see Jenna trying to clear a small obstacle, she looked angry even from where Rachel was. She laughed at her step-sister's failed attempts at clearing the small four obstacle course.

Those two girls were just an accident waiting to happen. Before they came to the ranch they had never even ridden before in their life. Rachel was just waiting for one of them to fall off but before that happened she received a call from her friend.

"Hey Rache", Laurel said.

"Hey Laurel, Jason asked me to the ball."

"He did What?! OMG! You are so going!"

"I don't think I can Laurel, I have heaps of assignments to do and The witch probably won't let me go anyway."

"Don't worry, we can put you in a disguise, she'll never even know it's you."

"I don't know, I'll have to think about it."

"Well, what are you going to tell Jason?"

"I don't know, I'll just think of something."

"Okay, just don't do anything irrational, you hear me?"

"Yeah yeah, I have to go start cooking dinner for the queen and her daughters so I have to go now, thanks for the um, encouragement, I think."

"Okay, see you at school tomorrow."

Rachel grabbed a piece of paper off her desk and started writing a letter in response to Jason. She would go against Laurel's advice and tell Jason she wouldn't be able to compete or go to the ball with him.

_Dear Jason._

_I can understand about others taking the limelight, it happens to me every day. No, I don't compete competitively, I would like to, it would help me save more money for college but I can't. This means that I won't be able to attend the ball with you at the local fair, as much as I would love to there are certain barriers in the way. Please forgive me._

_C._

She hid the letter under her pillow, deciding to give it to him tomorrow so it doesn't look suspicious. She went downstairs into the barn then out to the main house to prepare dinner for Carol and her two daughters.


	6. Chapter 6

Rachel woke up and did her usual morning routine, it was very early in the morning so she decided to risk going for a ride. Truth is she did want to compete and Laurel had told her that they could make a disguise and Carol would never know it was her. She decided if she was going to go she had to train, she was still unsure but she just wanted to ride. It was only a week before the competition now and she wasn't grounded anymore. She had given Jason the letter yesterday and was still waiting for his reply, she hoped it wouldn't be too late to change her mind.

"That's it boy", She said as he cleared a large oxer, the horse let out a light snort into the snowy air and cleared the next jump with ease. The jumps were already set up for Jason to ride his horse over so Rachel used them, knowing she wouldn't have time to set up her own obstacles.

She cleared the course and rode back into the barn. She untacked the black stallion that she had been riding and placed him back in his stall. He whinnied at her when she left and she went back to kiss his muzzle. She walked upstairs to change her clothes and came back down just as Jason walked into the barn.

"Rachel, could you give this letter to her?" He asked as he handed her a piece of paper.

"Yeah, sure", She replied as she took the slip and put it in her jacket pocket.

"Thanks", He said as he walked off.

Rachel opened the paper to read the letter while she walked upstairs, she still had time to quickly read it.

_Dear C_

_Sorry to hear you can't compete, it's a real shame, I saw you riding this morning. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, I swear I've seen you before we must have met right? Then again from my window it's hard to make out what you really look like so I could be wrong. If you do change your mind, let me know. _

_-Jason._

It wasn't too late for her to change her mind. She smiled at what it said, he wanted her to compete and he didn't care if she changed her mind last minute. She walked off towards school, laurel was on a road trip with her mother this week so wouldn't be able to give her a ride.

"You need a lift?" Someone said behind her, she turned to see it was Jason.

"Nah, I'm good, thanks anyway", She said, she didn't want to trouble him.

"Okay", He replied as he got in his truck.

Rachel didn't want to trouble him but she was starting to feel quite cold. Carol only gave her the hand me down clothes from her step sisters so the jacket she was wearing was well worn. She trudged through the snow and was glad when she finally arrived at the school. Disheartened by the fact that she had to face Bianca alone.

"Oh, look who showed up, _alone", _the blonde girl said, "I see you got that gum out of your hair."

"Yeah, it was real fun, you should try it", Rachel said as she walked by and put some of her own gum in Bianca's hair, the arrogant girl screamed and madly tried to pull it out in a blurry frenzy.

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Rachel walked back home from yet another uneventful day at school. The herd of cattle that Carol had bought were grazing at the bottom paddock and Rachel was excited because today was Friday. Carol let her work the horses on Friday, or at least the ones that weren't getting enough exercise. There were obviously some conditions she had to follow, she wasn't allowed to push them too hard, she wasn't allowed to jump over two foot and she wasn't allowed to use any of the '_good horses' _ as Carol had put it, that meant any of the expensive show horses.

She walked into the barn and Dusty poked his head out of his stall begging for a treat of some sort. Rachel giggled and gave him some of the crumbled cookie that had been in her jacket, the horse eagerly ate every last crumb.

She pulled out the equipment and tacked up Dusty, she was going to round up the cattle today. It was only a small herd about ten or twelve animals but it was big enough for the ranch, considering they had almost double that amount in horses.

She jumped onto his back and rode down the paddock to find the cows.

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Rachel woke up the next morning. Saturday. Her favourite day of the week. She tended to the horses and then went to the main house to fix breakfast for everyone. They were all talking about the competition coming up in a week.

"I can't wait to see the look on Jason's face when he sees me clear those fences in the advanced class", Jenna said proudly as she ate her eggs.

Rachel had to stifle her laughter, she knew that neither Jenna nor Rose would be able to clear the fences in the intermediate ring, it would more likely be the beginners circle for them. They weren't even big fans of riding.

"Rachel! You didn't use the low fat spread on this toast!" Rose whined and threw the toast at her angrily, "Are you trying to make me fat? You're just jealous because I'm skinny and you're not."

"Why would I be jealous of a stick insect like you?" Rachel retaliated, yes she may have had a somewhat curvy figure, she wasn't overweight.

"How dare you insult my daughters like that! That's it, I'll get Bianca to exercise the horses on Fridays from now on, she can get a job here and no more riding for you, ever!" Carole yelled at Rachel who gave her an angry look and stormed out of the house.

Rachel knew she would still sneak out to ride. It was her passion and nobody could stop her, her father had always believed in her and she missed him. She walked up into the loft of the barn and pulled the covers over her shivering body. Before remembering she still hadn't written back to Jason yet, she decided to call Laurel to get a friend's opinion.

"I told you not do anything irrational!" Laurel screeched into the phone and Rachel pulled her head away.

"Sorry but I just didn't think it would be possible but I've been jumping in the mornings again, practicing and I want to go, I really do, I'm just scared of what queen bee would do if I went", Rachel explained to her friend.

"Look, you should totally go, I have a few wigs at my place that we can do up and with some makeup and a pretty dress, Carole would never even know it was you okay?"

"You sure?" Rachel confirmed feeling somewhat uneasy about this but wanting to do it anyway.

"I'm sure", Laurel confirmed and the two ended the phone call, Rachel knew she would see her friend again Monday, the competition was on the next Saturday so Rachel still had one week to prepare herself.


	7. Chapter 7

Rachel nearly fell off her bed reaching for her alarm, it was Sunday, she had to wake up early to get anything done on Sundays. It was four thirty and still dark, she tended to the animals, aside from the horse she was riding that morning, Velvet surprise, she was intending to ride the horse for the show, the mare belonged to her father before he died and neither Carol nor the girls really cared much for the horse so they wouldn't recognise her at the show, of course she would, however, use a different show name on the day.

The light was beginning to break through the clouds and Rachel smiled, she had tacked up Velvet and rode the sixteen hand high, shining bay horse into the arena, she didn't have time to readjust the jumps so she used the ones which were already there. The horse cantered rhythmically and they headed for the first combination, two three foot uprights followed by an oxer at the same height.

The horse sailed smoothly over the jumps, of course she did, this horse had competed at a national level. She was named because of her soft coat with a velvet kind of feel to it and having being bought from the slaughterhouse as three year old, it was a surprise at how well she was at jumping. The horse was used for racing but after an extremely unsuccessful first year the owners decided to can her. She was about nine years old now, they had the horse before Rachel's father had met Carol.

Jason looked through his hair, the once nicely trimmed brown hair had grown over the last couple of weeks to hang just over his eyes. He saw Rachel clearing fencing, of course he only knew her as his mystery girl, C. He smiled, his white teeth glistening in the morning sun but gave a look of worry when he saw her madly rush off from the arena after a light in the main house was turned on.

Rachel knew one of them was up so she hurried back into the barn, it had only been about an hour and a half since she had woken and she would have to have breakfast prepared by nine, sighing, she tended to Velvet and then changed into a knee length aqua blue dress with brown buttons going down the middle, the simple design hung nicely on her body. She brushed back her hair and then let it fall naturally, applied some lip gloss and mascara and she was off.

She exited the barn and slowly crept into the back door of the house to see her platter of cookies on the bench, she had forgotten to take them up to the loft with her last night. She grabbed them and exited the house without being caught.

Today was Sunday, and Rachel, like she believed most people should do, attended church. What she could anyway, before she was expected home. Her father was a Christian and so was Laurel but she came to realise not many people were these days. She entered the church building at seven for the early morning service and greeted Tiffany, she was a friend of her father's.

"So, you been keeping busy?" The thirty year old woman asked, she had met Rachel's father at an equestrian show about ten years ago, they made friends and he introduced her to the church, "You know, with that show coming up this weekend."

"Well, it's kind of difficult for me, you see, I want to go but Carole won't let me", Rachel explained with a sigh, "Actually, a guy invited me to the ball afterwards."

"Sorry, but you are so going!" Tiffany said as her three year old child came up to her with a flower she picked from the garden, Tiffany turned to face her and smiled, "Yes darling, that's a very pretty flower."

"Well, actually, I am, kind of, you see this show if I do really well, there will be scouts there and everything, I could go really far because Jason will be there but I'm not going as Rachel, I'm going as C", Rachel explained, receiving a quizzical look from the woman, "Okay, I kind of got caught out one morning by Jason riding when I wasn't supposed to so I sent a letter to him explaining that he couldn't tell anyone the next time he saw me and I signed it with the letter C and well, things kind of went along and we continued writing notes, I told him that C was my friend and so he gave her notes via me, anyway, he invited me to the ball but Laurel is going to give me a makeover so I don't look like Rachel, does that make sense?"

"Totally, but um, Rachel, before you say anything further you should know that Jason is heading this way", Tiffany warned, trying to hide a smirk as she picked up her daughter and waved goodbye to Rachel before leaving to find a seat.

"Mind if I sit here?" Jason asked gesturing towards the seat next to Rachel.

"Go ahead", Rachel replied, nervously scratching her neck, "Oh, um, I have a letter for you."

"Thanks", Jason said as he received the letter, "Didn't know you were Christian, what about C, is she?"

"Y-yeah, she is b-but she doesn't, um, go to this church", Rachel told him as the band started playing a song.

Rachel joined in the singing and Jason was surprised by her voice, she was actually quite a good singer. He didn't dare sing for he knew his vocal chords weren't tuned to the same A as hers were. The service was good and fulfilling but Jason seemed disappointed when Rachel had to leave halfway through it.

"Where are you going?" He asked as he followed her out.

"Oh, um, I have things I need to do, you know", Rachel said as she walked hurriedly.

"Oh, you're entering in the competition aren't you, you realise that practice can wait until after church", he explained to her.

"Me, enter the competition, not you must be thinking of somebody else, I don't, um, ride", Rachel said, it killed her to say this but she was getting worried that he might link the connection between her and C and she had to make sure that he didn't figure that out, "No, I have other, you know, things to do."

Rachel walked home, more like ran so she could escape the cruel cold splatters which were deployed by the grey clouds looming overhead. She was freezing to say the least, she pulled her worn jacket up over her head, the snow from recent days had just started to slowly vanish as they were coming to the end of winter, Rachel pulled her beanie down tighter and felt her bones shaking. All she wanted to do was stop moving, the walk to church that morning hadn't been that bad but having the rain on top of it just made it worse.

Rachel walked another kilometre before she decided to take a break and sit under the shade of large tree, curled up and trying to retain as much body warmth as possible and she noticed her eyelids starting to feel heavy. 'This is it', She thought, 'Everything I've ever amounted to is just going to fade away, just like my father, all I'll ever be is that stupid stable girl that nobody cared about.' After about five minutes or so she finally succumbed to the greater forces of sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Rachel looked around, she was in the stable. She saw Bianca standing nearby with Jason, a wicked grin plastered onto her face. She laughed at Rachel and pointed her finger, before she realised it, Jason was laughing to, both of them ridiculing her.

"Look, it's stupid little stable girl", Bianca said and Rachel noticed Carol, Rose and Jenna appear as well.

"Who would ever want somebody like that", Jason said as he leaned in for a kiss from Bianca which was obviously reciprocated.

"She's just like her father", Carol said with an angry look.

"A nobody", Rose and Jenna said in unison.

Rachel felt dizzy and the images started to waver when she noticed her body was being shaken a little, she wobbled around on her feet when she heard something.

"Rachel", She saw Jason say, she was surprised, Jason had just kissed Bianca right in front of her, "Rachel, you gotta wake up."

Rachel's eyes shot open and she realised that the images she had just seen were in no way real, however this information was not in any way consoling. She realised that she was alive and unfortunately, she was still freezing, she felt like she had lost all her body warmth, she couldn't even move.

"You alright?" Jason asked with a look of concern.

"Couldn't just let me die, could ya?" Rachel muttered, before saying more clearly, "Yeah, look I'm fine, thanks though, for, um, you know, waking me up."

"No problem, I was worried when I saw you there like that, glad I came when I did otherwise the cold would have beat me to ya", Jason explained as he helped her up off the ground and once she had gotten her bearings she started to walk again, "Hang on a sec, you're coming home with me, I didn't realise you were walking home before, I thought you had a car just around the corner."

"No, I'm fine, really", Rachel said, she hated drawing attention to herself because it always backfired and she knew that if Bianca found out about this it would be all over the school noticeboards tomorrow.

"No, you're coming back with me", Jason ordered as he picked up her body and put her in his truck, got in himself and drove off with her. He became worried when the heater wasn't working probably, her body looked more like it was convulsing rather than shaking from the cold, "Don't worry, we'll be there soon."

They pulled up to the stables and Jason pulled her out of his truck and carried her to his room. Unfortunately for Rachel it was about nine thirty and both Rose and Jenna saw this, she knew she would be in for it but she was too dazed at the moment to care. Jason put Rachel on his bed and turned on his heater, he felt her wrist and was worried to find that it was extremely cool. He knew how to treat hypothermia, he had done a course in first aid when he was younger.

"It's okay Rachel", He said soothingly as he noticed her lips were slightly blue, he took her jacket off, her dress and her singlet leaving her only in her undergarments before he pulled of his shirt as well and held her close to his body.

Rachel was barely aware of what was happening, she had floated in and out of consciousness during the car ride since the heater failed to work. All she knew is she finally felt warm, when she finally started to be relieved of her hypothermia, only then did she come to the full realisation that she was hugging Jason Sanders in her undergarments. She got up from the bed and started putting on her clothes when Carol burst in, followed by her two daughters.

"My God! Rachel what have you done!" She yelled and Rachel just continued to put on her clothes.

"That whore! I should have known she would do something like that!" Rose whined and pouted.

"No but you don't under…"Rachel said before she was cut off by her other step sister.

"We shouldn't have let you anywhere near him, you just can't help yourself can you!" Jenna screeched, Jason stood aside from the group of girls who soon left leaving Rachel standing there nearly in tears.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think, I should have known that they would assume things", Jason said with a look of solemnity, Rachel tried to look into his eyes but couldn't for too long, she wanted to tell him she was C but he probably thought C was some high class, beautiful girl with rich parents who lives in a mansion. Rachel didn't believe herself to be any of those, she wasn't high class, she was pretty even though she didn't admit it and she certainly didn't have rich parents, or any parents for that matter.

"It's okay, really, thanks though for like, saving my life, even if it's not worth living at least I know there's somebody out there who cares enough", Rachel said and was about to leave when Jason stopped her.

"Hey, um, if it's not too much trouble I have a note for C, if you could give it to her, next time you see her, would be great, I mean I know you've been through a lot so don't feel too pressured and I can't thank you enough for helping me talk to her, she seems like a really wonderful girl, she's agreed to go to the ball with me", Jason explained.

"Oh really, that's wonderful, I'm sure C is really excited to finally get to know you", Rachel said before she left.

Up in the loft that evening, once she had sorted everything out and done all her chores she opened up the letter that Jason had given her, or C really.

_Hey C_

_So glad to know you're coming, I can't wait to see you. It's so good we can finally meet each other, I've been wanting to meet you in person for ages now. I have to go now, jumping practice waits for nobody, and on that topic I saw you jumping on today (or Sunday because I'm not sure when you'll get this) but you were pretty good, I hope to see you competing in the advanced class._

_Yours truly,_

_Jason._


	9. Chapter 9

Rachel walked into school that morning alongside Laurel. She had explained to her friend what happened Sunday, her hypothermia and how Jason had helped her. What she didn't expect was to see pictures of her in her undergarments plastered over every notice board and wall in the school. The only thing she was glad about was that Jason wasn't there to see this public humiliation.

"Rose must have taken a picture with her phone while I wasn't looking", Rachel said as she picked up the piece of paper which read underneath, _Stable girl is really a call girl._

"Don't worry about this honey, I'm sure it'll blow over in a day or two", Laurel told her.

"Yeah but Laurel, that's not the point, the point is that I was not sleeping with Jason when this photo was taken", Rachel told her friend.

"Don't worry Rachel, I'm here for you, besides, whose the one going on a date with Jason on Saturday?" Laurel told her friend.

"I am", Rachel said dejectedly when two boys came up to her, they shoved Laurel out of the way and walked off with Rachel around the corner, "Hey! What do you want?"

"We want you", They said with a smirk, "The sign says you're a call girl so we're giving you our number, we'll pay whatever you're prices are."

"No", Rachel said adamantly, "I'm no call girl."

"Oh I think the pictures speak for themselves", One of the boys said as his lips came crashing down onto hers, she felt revolted and pushed him away before things got any more out of hand and walked back over to Laurel.

"What was that about?" Laurel asked.

"Well, thanks to this lovely little poster that Rose made those boys actually believe that I am now a 'Call girl'", Rachel informed Laurel.

"You know I've gotta say that what you did Rachel was pretty low, even for you, I never would have guessed that you weren't a virgin, but a call girl on top of that, I've gotta say I was surprised", Bianca stated as she played with her nails.

"Oh come on Bianca, you know as well as I do that the poster is false", Rachel retaliated.

"All I want to say is maybe you should consider the offer those two guys made for you, I mean, I know how much you want to save to start your own stables and go up the ranks for the competition", Bianca said before she walked off.

"God, she is such a bitch!" Laurel stated through her teeth.

"Don't worry Laurel, we don't want to stoop to her level because you know she will be us with experience", Rachel said as she patted her friend on the back.

The day dragged on for Rachel, her and Laurel discussed their plans for the ball. Laurel was not going to the ball nor was she competing, she did vaulting not show jumping. She couldn't wait, however until the ball to see how Rachel and Jason got on at the ball.

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**Sorry it's so short, the next one will be a really long one, I promise!**


	10. Chapter 10

It was Friday today. The week had passed incredibly fast and Rachel was so excited for the show on the following day. The advanced class was in the afternoon and the ball was a few hours afterwards, this way riders could go home and get ready. Except Rachel wasn't going home, she was going to Laurels to get a makeover. Of Course, as far as Carol was concerned Rachel was going to be staying back to help set up for the ball and then leave once everyone arrived.

She got home and put all her belongings on her bed, she had an assignment that was nearly done that she had to remind herself to finish on Sunday. She saw one of the older notes from Jason on the floor and so picked it up and put it in her diary, along with all the other notes before she fell asleep.

The next morning was hectic, before Rachel could do anything for herself she first had to get both Rose and Jenna prepared for the show along with their respective horses Persuasion and Sonata. Sonata was a jet black Arabian stallion, he stood at just over fifteen hands and so was the perfect height for Jenna, Persuasion was a bay standardbred and stood at about sixteen hands. Of course neither of the horses had anything on Velvet.

About half an hour after the girls had left and about an hour before the advance class began Laurel showed up with her horse trailer. Rachel had seen Jason leave early this morning so she knew that it was safe for her to be seen out. She loaded up velvet in the trailer and hopped in the car.

"This is so exciting", Laurel squealed, "You finally get to go out on a date with like, every girl's dream guy!"

"Well, C gets to go out on a date with this dream guy", Rachel replied defeatedly.

"Oh, don't be so glum, behind the mask it's still you", Laurel said, trying to support and motivate her friend.

"I guess", Rachel said with her mind obviously elsewhere.

They pulled up at the show, Rachel hadn't been given a makeover considering that nobody would be able to recognise her from the ring and being out in the heat would ruin any makeover that she did have on.

Laurel and Rachel quickly tended to Velvet before going to sign up at the desk. Fortunately none of the ladies there knew Rachel, the plan was to avoid coming into contact with anyone that they knew until the ball.

"Hey girls, so is it just the one of you signing up today?" The woman asked and Rachel nodded her head in confirmation, "Okay darling, what's your name?"

Rachel turned to Laurel with her eyes wide open and jaw nearly on the floor, they didn't have a name for her, all they had was the letter C. Rachel smiled quickly at the lady at the desk then turned to talk to Laurel quickly.

"C name, what's a good C name?" Rachel asked frantically.

"How about", Laurel paused for a moment, "Cindy, it's my cousin's name and I've always been fond of it."

"Fine", Rachel said before turning back to the desk, "Um, Cindy C, just put that down."

Once they had finished filling out the paperwork Rachel quickly got ready for her event, it wasn't long to go now and she was starting to feel nervous, she hadn't competed in years, well, since her dad died to be exact, Carol had never let her and she was beginning to wonder if she had the confidence to now.

"You'll do fine", Laurel said as she patted Velvet's neck.

Rachel watched Jason ride, he was the one before her, his dappled Thoroughbred cleared the jumps easily but Rachel knew that Velvet had jumped higher hurdles than this before, of course Velvet was now competing under the name of Refracted Logic.

"Nice round Jason", The announcer said through the speaker, "We now have a girl called Cindy C."

Rachel entered the gate opposite to the one that Jason entered through and she saw him ride away, probably to put away his horse. She started to put Velvet into a canter and saw him arrive back at the gate.

Velvet loved jumping and Rachel could feel it, he felt so fluid over every jump. Her hooves weren't pounding on the ground, they were creating the rhythm, her snorts and small whinnies weren't deafening, it was the melody, Rachel patting her on the neck became the baseline and the jumps created syncopation.

Before Rachel knew it she had cleared the round without knocking a single pole and to top it off, she scored better than Jason. She watched as the other riders competed, Bianca was in the same class as Rachel. She cleared all the jumps but one. Rachel had won the class. She ran up to Laurel with a giant smile spread on her face.

"I won!" She screeched, "Do you know what this means! I might get a chance to do some more shows, compete on a bigger circuit!"

"That's so great Rachel!" Laurel said as she hugged her friend then noticed Jason walking towards them, "Quick hide, Jason's coming."

Rachel quickly headed off towards the female bathroom before Jason could get a chance to see who she was, he wasn't supposed to see C until the ball.

"Hey Laurel, was that Cindy?" He asked and Laurel nodded her head, "does she sometimes go by the name of C?"

"Yeah she does, um, I um, am helping her look after her horse today, she offered Rachel to do it but Rachel is very busy today so I, um came to, you know, just help her with her horse", Laurel explained with a somewhat strained smile.

"Um, okay, just tell her she did really well today and I'll see her this evening", Jason said before walking off, not noticing that Rachel was walking back towards Laurel.

"Rachel, we should go before other people start coming over to us, like Bianca for instance", Laurel said, nodding her head in the general direction of a short brunette girl riding her horse there way.

"Good thinking", Rachel said as they both got in the vehicle and drove off to Laurel's place, Laurel was going to keep Velvet at her place until the next day, she would bring him around early in the morning, Rachel knew that neither Carol or her two daughters would notice that the horse was gone when they came home to get ready for the ball.

They got into the house and Laurel reached for something under her bed, she pulled out a plain white box and sat it on the bed, she then went and grabbed her realistic wig and her make up set before they both sat down, they had two hours to turn Rachel into Cindy.

"Okay, so I have the perfect dress for you", Laurel said as she opened the box to reveal a never worn before white dress, "Melinda's wedding dress and her wig."

"No, Laurel I couldn't", Rachel told her, Laurel's sister Melinda died of cancer a few years ago, she was to be married a month later.

"Yes you can, I don't care if I have to force you into it, Mel would be pleased, she bought this dress to be worn so that's what you're gonna do."

"Fine", Rachel said as she showered then got into the dress. She looked stunning in it, the wig went on nicely so with the green contacts and a bit of makeup Rachel looked like an entirely different person.

"Okay, I've also got these old slip on heels of mine, they should fit you just fine but whatever you do, don't stand on anything other than concrete or the heel will sink right in."

"Got it", Rachel said as the two smiled and hugged before getting in the vehicle and driving to the ball.

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**Hope you all like it, yes I know that the last few updates happened really quickly, you can find links to character pics in my profile along with pics of Cindy and the dress!**


	11. Chapter 11

Rachel could feel her heart beating sporadically. She tried to calm herself, but how could she when she knew she was going on a date with Jason. She was practically jumping out of her skin as Laurel's vehicle pulled up to the ball, she looked like a completely different person and she had to remember that for this night, she was Cindy and not Rachel. The light green eye contacts made her eyes look much brighter than their usual dark green colour.

She walked up the steps fiddling with the ring on her finger, it was her mother's wedding ring and she always swore to herself she would wear it on her first date in honour of her mother. The room was large and there were possibly too many people to count, she couldn't see Jason anywhere.

"Where is he Laurel?" she whispered to her friend.

"Relax Rache, I'm sure he's around somewhere, he wouldn't stand you up like that, he obviously liked you, I mean, he was ogling all over you while you were riding", Laurel told Rachel who lightly slapped her on the arm in return, "What was that for?"

"First, off, I'm no longer Rachel or Rache, I am as of now Cindy for the rest of the night and you will not refer to Jason as 'ogling' over me", Rachel said as she continued to search for Jason before giving an apprehensive sigh, "I should have known this would happen."

"Relax Rach-Cindy, I mean Cindy, he'll be around here somewhere", Laurel said before seeing him walk in the door opposite them, "There he is."

"Okay, wish me luck", Rachel said as she hugged her friend and walked towards Jason.

"Good luck Cindy", Laurel a as she smiled and watched Cindy greet Jason.

"You look lovely", Jason said as he grabbed her hand.

"Thanks, you're not too bad yourself", Rachel said, "You rode well today."

"You rode better but I should have known based on how I've seen you ride in the mornings", He told her as the quartet started playing there next song, "You know, it's a small town out here, I haven't seen you around."

"Well, I live on the outskirts", Rachel lied, she didn't want him to know where she really lived, "So, you've met my friend Rachel?"

"Yeah, she seems like a nice girl but I don't really know her that well", He replied, "But you're quite a mystery as well."

"Okay, ask me a question", Rachel requested with a smile dancing on her lips.

"Very well", He began but soon became distracted by her eyes, "Are you wearing contacts?"

"Okay, that counts by the way, and yes I am because my normal brown eyes are incredibly boring", She lied, she didn't have brown eyes, they were a dark green but she considered that the light green contacts looked better, "My turn, what do you think of Bianca?"

"She's nice enough I suppose, why? Is someone feeling a bit jealous?" He asked back with a joking smile and Rachel smiled back.

"Yeah, I think someone is a bit jealous but I don't believe that someone to be me", She said back as she gestured with her head towards Bianca.

"Ha ha, yeah, I think she thought I would be taking her", He said with a smile.

"Yeah well, I guess life has a way of throwing the unexpected at you", Cindy said with a sigh.

"What would you call unexpected?" He said as he noticed her mind slowly drift and eyes stare into space.

"Something like losing both your parents", she replied with a sigh.

"I thought you lived with your mum", He said inquisitively.

"Um, did I say that", Rachel replied nervously, "I meant step mother," and just as Rachel said that the clock chimed, she saw the face to see both hands pointing to the same number, 12, "Shit!"

"What?" Jason asked as he grabbed her hand as she was about to walk off.

"I have to go", Rachel replied as she slipped her hand out of his.

"Will I see you again?" He asked but she had already taken off, it was only then that he realised something was in his hand.

He opened his fist to reveal a golden ring with clear crystals carefully placed. He noticed an inscription on the inside and, upon closer inspection, read '_forever and always.'_

Rachel ran off to see Laurel's car parked outside. Her friend had a worried look for Laurel knew what would happen if Carole found out about this.

"Took your time", Laure said as the two girls jumped into the car and sped off, well, only as the speed limit would allow, "You should know that I'm not running any red lights for you."

"Okay, but can you at least go just a little bit faster, Carole's gonna bite off my head if she finds out about this and you'll be left for the picking", Rachel warned and Laurel heeded this.

"Okay, fine, but just this once", Laurel said as they continued the drive home.

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**Well, there you have it :D another chapter, sorry for taking so long, as I said in my profile I've been inexplicably busy with schoolwork and haven't had time to write so expect at least one more update during the Easter break.**


	12. Chapter 12

Rachel raced home and up into the loft, she quickly changed into some house clothes and tried to look as filthy as possible. She saw Laurel drive off and it was about another twenty minutes before Carol arrived back home with Rose and Jenna.

"Rachel!" Carol yelled into the barn, "Get your but down here!"

"Yes, Carol", Rachel replied with bitterness.

"Where have you been tonight?" Carol asked with a sceptical look on her face.

"I've just been working here, that's all, where do you think I would go looking like this?" Rachel retaliated, glad that she had messed up her hand and wiped subtle amounts of dirt onto her face after removing her make-up and contacts.

"Very well, oh and, can you go see that both my girls have a nice hot chocolate, it's quite cold out tonight", Carol demanded as she walked back to the house.

"Whatever", Rachel mumbled as she grabbed a rake and began to rake out the stall, only then realising the absence of a ring from her finger, "Dammit!"

"Rachel?" Rachel turned around to see Jason standing at the door to the barn.

"Yeah?" Rachel said through her teeth.

"Sorry, I know that you're probably busy but I was wondering if you could help me find Cindy so I can give her her ring back, it must have slipped off her finger when we were dancing", He explained.

"Oh, I can take it and give it to her if you want", Rachel offered when she saw the ring that she held so precious to her in his hand.

"No, I want to give it to her personally I just have no idea what she really looks like because she was wearing contacts and a lot of make up yesterday", he explained

"Yeah, she likes to change her look around, she was even wearing a wig yesterday, she likes to remain invisible", Rachel commented as she wiped

"Why is that?" Jason asked.

"It's just who she is", Rachel replied as she walked towards him, "So, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, I'm fine thanks", Jason replied as he walked off, Rachel sighed in frustration as she looked at all the notes that had been exchanged between her and Jason.

/\

"What do you mean, it just slipped off?" Laurel demanded as the two girls walked into the school grounds.

"Does it matter, I'm sure he's probably all over some other girl now, I just want my ring back", Rachel said as they walked down the hall, they noticed girls crowding around in an area and upon closer inspection saw Bianca trying to squeeze the ring onto her finger.

"Look, I'm sorry girls but none of you are the girl I was dancing with the other night", Jason said in an irritable tone.

"Okay, you so have to tell him that it was you he danced with", Laurel said as she jumped up and down, "this is just too cute, he'll put the ring on and see that it fits perfectly and you can live happily ever after in a mansion with twenty-one cute babies because you and him would make just the most beautiful babies and…"

"Laurel!" Rachel said to interrupt her friend's rambling, "I'm not going to tell him."

"And why not?" Laurel said as she put her hands on her hips.

"Because, he's caught up in the fantasy of Cindy being someone that I'm not, the girl that he danced with the other night doesn't exist", Rachel replied flatly as she opened her locker.

"Well then, I'm going to tell Tiffany about this and see what she thinks", Laurel told her friend.

"You wouldn't!" Rachel replied in a pleading voice only to see the nonchalant and proud look on her friend's face before she nodded, "Please, no, we both know that she'll just tell Jason herself, you can't do that!"

"Fine, but only because I'm your friend", Laurel replied somewhat dejectedly as the two walked to class.

/\

"Rachel! Mum needs you in the office, something about college or whatever", Jenna yelled up the stairs into the loft.

"Huh, what?" Rachel questioned as she lifted her sleeping head off the desk, she only just realised that she had fallen asleep during schoolwork.

"Get down here, mum wants to talk to you!" Rose repeated for her step-sister.

"Fine, give me a sec!" Rachel snapped back as she quickly fixed her hair and ruffled clothes before proceeding down the loft and past her sisters to see Carol in the office.

"Yes Carol?" Rachel asked as she arrived in the office and Carol notioned to her to take a seat.

"I just got your applications back from the three riding colleges that you applied for, I'm sorry but your application was rejected, however I applied for you at a regular college, so you could study something you might be good at and stay out of the way of my daughters, and you got accepted", Carol explained.

"But Carol, why would you send in an application for me when you know that I didn't want to go to a regular college", Rachel explained as she felt tears beginning to form in her eyes.

/\

Jenna walked into the loft with Rose, the two decided to snoop around while Rachel was talking to their mother. They weren't sure what they were looking for but they were hoping for something that they might be able to exploit.

"What are we even doing?" Jenna said as she searched through the files on Rachel's computer.

"I told you already, looking for stuff", Rose replied as she looked under the pillow and saw a pile of notes, "Stuff like this."

"What is it?" Jenna asked as she game over to take a look.

"Letters, between her and Jason, oh my God, this is perfect, I could pretend to be C, Jason's mystery girl", Rose said as she clutched the pieces of paper close to her chest.

"That's not fair, I want to be his mystery girl", Jenna pouted as she crossed her arms.

"It's not about who the mystery girl is, Jenna, it's about getting back at Rachel for being with Jason that one time, besides I am the oldest by like a whole three minutes", Rose explained.

"Fine", Jenna said as they grabbed all the notes and exited the room.

/\

Rachel came out of the office just to see Jenna and Rose leaving the barn, she watched their backs as the figures retreated hurriedly into the house. If this was unusual behaviour for the twins she probably would have questioned the way they were acting but shrugged it off as a normality.

"I still can't believe I didn't get in", She said to herself as hot tears streamed down her face.

/\

**Yay! It's an update, please don't kill me for taking forever to update (I'm soooo sorry!)**

**Anyway, hope you all like it, please let me know what you think, still got at least somewhere between 5 and 10 chapters left so it may take a while but I am updating it as fast as I can.**

**Please read and give me reviews-I looooovve getting reviews-they make me happy! **

**Yours always**

**~Toffeelola**


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